We feel a sense of awe and amazement at the mystery of the universe (ghayba)...

We feel a sense of awe and amazement at the mystery of the universe (ghayba), and move in an endless quest for answers to the perennial riddle with an eager longing to discover the truth of everything, the truth which is universal and absolute in the sense that it is valid for all men in all places and at all times. The experience of the mysterious is the fundamental quality underlying all religions.

We must, however, make a clear distinction between religion as a personal concern, as man's encounter with the divine, and religion as a part of history, as a social phenomenon, and as the commitment to a group. Religion at the personal level is a commitment to a belief in the conservation of values and is based on the discovery of the essential worth and dignity of…